Ceramics and glass business news of the week

Owens Corning has been named to the list of 2014 North America Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders. This year’s winners were selected and ranked by independent judges based on strength of leadership practices and culture, examples of leader development on a global scale, alignment of business and leadership strategy, company reputation, business and financial performance, and more.

PPG Industries chief operating officer Michael H. Mcgarry unloaded 4,900 shares of the company’s stock on the open market in a transaction dated Friday, November 7. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.12, for a total transaction of $1,005,088.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the COO now directly owns 33,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,822,291.

Guardian Industries Corp. will close its Floreffe, Pa. float glass plant in 2015. The plant currently produces dark tinted privacy float glass—PrivaGuard and MidnightGray II—and Guardian plans to shift that production to its Carleton, Mich. float glass plant. The Floreffe location currently has about 140 employees.

Charles Ross & Son Company is undergoing a major expansion in India. In March 2015, Ross Process Equipment will be moving into a state-of-the-art 20,000-sq.ft. facility located in the Chakan MIDC industrial area. The new site sits on a 2.5-acre land large enough to accommodate further expansions that could double the initial plant space.

Dow Chemical said its partner in a 71-year-old silicone venture that’s on pace for $6 billion of annual sales wants to sell its half of the business, and Dow could be the buyer. The joint venture (Midland, Mich.) posted $476 million of net income on $4.54 billion of sales in January through September 2014.

Owens-Illinois Inc. recently completed a €55 million investment in its San Polo, Italy facility. To better support the Italian beverage markets, O-I invested €40 million in a new furnace, four high-efficient production lines, and state-of-the art inspection equipment this year, in addition to a €15 million investment in 2011.